Asian-American Politicians
Fear Fallout From Scandal

MONTEREY PARK, Calif. -- Three days before an otherwise uneventful municipal election here last month, a nasty national political scandal spattered this leafy Los Angeles suburb.

On that Saturday morning in March, voters in predominantly Asian-American Monterey Park found their mailboxes stuffed with fliers attacking the leading candidate for city council, two-term incumbent Judy Chu. The charge? That Ms. Chu, a 43-year-old ethnic Chinese educator, was a conduit for Asian money coming into American politics.